One of my extraordinarily intelligent, yet inexplicably right winged friends, Beetel wrote:“You guys need to get a new spokesman. This one’s so full of shite you can smell it on his breath. Just gonna hurt the cause in the long run.” then goes on to quote the information on Gore’s personal energy use following An Inconvenient Truth’s oscar. (also via hugg)

My reply:Shame on you.A. Stop trying to downplay the importance of the global warming message by attempting to discredit the spokesperson (a childish yet common political tactic sadly used by both republicans and democrats).2. It’s true that Gore should significantly decrease his energy use. However, although he is not “walking the walk”, as skeptics say, with his everyday consumption, he is utilizing a great deal of this energy to “fight the fight” as we idealists say.III. Make sure you look at the opposing side’s retort prior to sending around fire-fueling propaganda – check this article and newcast out. There’s another interesting article here.

I’ll say “I told you so” in 30 or so post-apocalyptic years when you’ll be piecing together blackmarket robot parts in an underground nanotechnology lab to arm a cyborg revolution and I’ll be heading up the U.N. council on Biological Threats or some other such disaster management problem that will have surfaced by then.

I apologise, by the way, if I’m overtired and rambling, but I’m 1/2 asleep after an overnight shift.

Here’s my extended but not complete take on the matter:We really do have to stop the global energy crisis and it has to be a bipartisan and cooperative event. This is not just global warming, but also an issue that encompasses our resource use and our fossil fuel use and it’s political ramifications; not to mention the global instability caused by American Imperialism in our search for more oil.How do we start a solution?As individual Americans.One simple way to start a change is to realize that the choices that we make in our daily consumption lie at the heart of the problem. If a corporation’s mass produced, resource-hungry, preserved, chemical-laden “food products”don’t sell because no educated consumer in their right mind would eat them, then they won’t make them anymore. If people refuse to wear sweat-shop produced, fertilizer-laced cotton shirts, then eventually they won’t be produced either. If people choose to buy fair-trade, organic coffee, the poor village in Africa or South America can get paid for what their work is worth and their village will eventually get better sanitation, better healthcare, and better living standards.I think that although personal consumption is “personal”, and people should be free to live their lives as they choose, the true costs of goods, services, and resources need to be paid by the consumer. This means that cost will go up, availability will be limited, and resources will be expensive (as they should be). This means that yes, some people will lose their jobs, but at the same time many jobs will be made and new industry will form to improve renewable energy technology and manage our resources. Energy will eventually be just as, if not more plentiful than it is in the current oil-based energy economy, it will be more available to developing countries, and it will cause less harm and pollution to the earth.All of this prosperity comes at a price, however. This means that many multinational corporations would have to lose power and lose wealth, losing a few jobs and making a miniscule percentage of our population slightly less wealthy. Wow, what a terrible sacrifice. For this to happen, local communities need to flourish again and cooperate to manage their allocated resources wisely. For this to happen, the individual person needs to start with simple choices in conservation and try to improve from there as they are able.

I can get downright evangelical can’t I? Maybe that will be one of my future campaign speeches.

On a personal “green” note, my Vanagon is in Sacramento getting a Biodiesel/Vegetable oil conversion! So aside from the brush with death from an enraged Hummer driver (discussed in my blog), we’ll be off liquid petrol within the next 2 months.So far, by putting solar on our house last year, we have cut our home power use by 70% and are saving ourselves $1680/year in electricity costs. The biodiesel I’m making is costing me $1.40/gallon to make and after I make 4 more batches (3 months or so), the money I spent on my system will have paid for itself then it’s all savings from there! Then we need to work on our natural gas furnace and hot water heater. That will take a few years I think, but the current thought is a waste oil furnace/hot water heater combo – I’m hoping to combine our waste oil collection, biodiesel production and home heating all into one source and one process in the corner of the garage. I also have a rainwater and greywater cachement system in mind, but that’s further off.Once we’re done, it will take me 10 hours of labor and less than $200 a month to provide CO2 neutral fuel for our family including transportation, heat, hot water, and electricity (as opposed to more than $350/month with traditional energy sources). This “greening” of my lifestyle, or “ecophasing” as I’ll call it, has actually been fun and become sort of a hobby. Rather than playing video games or stare at a television all day, everyone can try to stay up to date on politics, technology, and environmental news, trying to figure out how to spend the least amount of money and make our living as green as possible while maintaining a modern and convenient lifestyle. I think I’ll start an “ecophazing” movement, or is that too “Sally” of a name? Whatever it can be called, It’s a good and legitimate way to get people to decrease their footprint and conserve resources.My latest project, besides the biodiesel vanagon, is a kick-ass commuter bike with cargo capacity and style. I’ll be able to bike to the grocery store and if I’m feeling particularly frisky, could take my surfboard the 20 miles to the beach and 20 miles back (that would be fairly bad-ass (or is it “bad-assed”) and I think that I’ll have to build up to that. Using this frame (not in red), and mostly recycled parts, it will have an xtracycle attachment for carrying capacity (groceries, surfboard, etc), LED lighting, and a chalkboard paint surface for environmentally-friendly hippie propaganda, peace signs and other sweet drawings. It’s going to be funky-fly-fresh. For extra eco-dork street cred, I’m considering a POV (persistence of vision) wheel kit, sporting an uber-geek bling-bling recycle symbol. You have to check the POV wheel out, even though I do recognize that it is using unnecessary resources and power, it absolutely is the coolest thing you can do to your bike for less than $50. I also might eventually wuss out and get one of these electric conversions, but for now I’ll opt for the extra sweat.Hope it’s not too cold in the midwest. It’s been raining here but fairly comfortable in the 60’s and sunny today.Not to rub it in or anything.Later –Clint

update: A reponse by my friend has proposed “enviro-ninja”, or “econinja” as a more stylish and tougher name for the environmental hobbyist. This, of course, referring to the the ninja’s legendary ability to “leave no trace” and blend in to the environment without being seen.Plus, the costumes are fun.

AMD, the computer processor manufacturer, has organized The Green Grid, a consortium of tech giants brought together to address the server industry’s power consumption.
It seems that the world’s energy use for servers and ancillary computing equipment doubled from 3.1 billion dollars in 2000 to 7.3 billion in 2005. AMD took the lead in tackling this problem, but it has superpowers Hewlett-Packard Co., International Business Machines Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc., and Dell Inc., even recently adding Microsoft Corp. as well as Intel Corp., AMD’s processor-making nemesis.
The group plans to standardize the measurement of computer efficiency and performance as well as pushing for greater power supply efficiency. They claim that with standardization, it will be easier to assess power use and facilitate steps toward reducing it.
You can take steps now to reduce your computer’s footprint: An LCD monitor uses 60% less than a CRT, use “smart power strips(product link)” to turn of peripherals when not in use, and install an Antec Earthwatts super-efficient power supply. Also, tweaking your Windows power management settings can significantly reduce your computer’s power consumption.
There are also a variety of “Green PCs” getting out there by companies like NEC, Dell, Computer Technology Link,
This conservation step is crucial across the board to prevent the construction of new coal-fired power plants as a quick and literally dirty way to meet growing energy needs.

In doing some research on alternative fuel grants, I was browsing the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy” site. It has listings of grants and special programs for renewable energy. Under California’s “Exemptions from Requirements/Restrictions” section I found a great parking deal if you’re an alternative fuel or electric car driver!

For being a treehugging, progressive, forward-thinking, doomsdayistbiodieseler or EV-1 Zealot, you get free meter parking in: Sacramento, Santa Monica, Hermosa Beach, and L.A.! Hybrids get free metered and metro lot parking in San Jose! Some people in the Bay Area might qualify for reduced or free tolls and HOV lane privileges! Of course, you do have to apply for them, display emblems, and jump through some hoops, but free parking in L.A. while driving Laura’s homebrew B-100 burning, hippie-chic silver JettaTDI Wagon? Sweet!
Check out these programs for alternative energy and put some of our government’s money to good work!

Over the past year, I have taken to the simple and self-satisfying habit of flipping off any H1s or H2s that I see on the road. This was inspired by the site fuh2.com, a collection of submitted photos of other Hummer-haters demonstrating their disdain for these vehicles. To many environmentally conscious people, myself included, the H2 in particular is a symbol of the excessive American consumption, waste, inconsideration and obliviousness that has lead to our current climate crisis and contributes to injustices around the world. This may sound like rhetoric or an overly-dramatic representation, but this is the utmost truth. H2s get 9-13mpg, comparable to shipping trucks and light duty construction equipment, that is, half (yes, 50%) of the abysmal U.S. average of 21mpg (2006 EPA data). They are poorly designed to fit on our highways, our parking lots, and have less storage and seating capacity than the average crossover vehicle or minivan. The worst part is, they are most often driven in the city by one person and rarely, if ever, do any type of the towing or off-road functions that it was purportedly designed for. H2s also carry an childish, introverted “machismo” with them. GM’s latest ad campaigns with “get your girl on” or “reclaim your manhood” appeal perfectly to the short-sighted, selfish, wasteful, immature Americans with self-confidence issues and superiority complexes that actually would purchase these monstrosities.
The point of this post, however, is to describe my latest experience caused by my FUH2 philosophy. My wife and I drove down to L.A. this weekend on a mission – she went to a meeting for a master’s program, we saw some family, and we picked up a few diesel engines that will allow us to convert our ’87 VW Syncro Westfalia campervan (Sally is her name) to biodiesel/vegetable oil!
As we drove, we saw a ridiculous number of L.A.-style Hummers and my finger was getting tired. While one was passing us, I lifted my weary finger, managing a bored and nonchalant flip through the window. He saw this, and with an angered, maniacal gleam in his eye, slammed on his brakes and swerved into our lane, forcing us (a borrowed Jeep Cherokee towing a trailer with 2 engines in it) to maneuver to avoid him! Luckily we didn’t get injured, but it made me think.
I said, “Self?” (because that’s what I call me) “Self, why do you feel a need to flip off hummers? What does it accomplish?”
I have always felt a little bad about it, I mean, although the middle finger has many meanings, at its worst, it is a pretty solid symbol of disdain, anger, and hostility. Not a very Zen thing to be waving about town. However, in the back of my mind, besides giving me some self-satisfaction, I had hoped that if Hummer drivers get flipped off enough, they might think, “why is everyone so mad at me?” “Maybe this choice of vehicles is inappropriate considering our current climate and energy crises, maybe I should get another car?”
The experience of being nearly killed by an enraged, irresponsible, self-absorbed, hyperconsumer with no accountability showed me that this is likely not to be the case. The mindset of someone who actually thinks that it is a good idea to buy a Hummer, that it makes them more powerful, gives them status, makes other people envious, etc, would not allow for a realization of this magnitude. They are much too self-absorbed. Here’s but one of many examples of an comment battle between Hummer and anti-Hummer fans – notice the lack of grammar, insight and overall intelligence reflected in the pro-Hummer postings. Very telling.
“But Clint,” you say, “If flipping Hummers off won’t save the world, what will? What do we do about this terrible overconsumption?”
Well in an ideal world everyone would get over their complexes, selfishness, and greed, and do whatever they can to help in stopping and reversing our current global crisis. People would simply “Do the right thing” and cut back their consumption. This can start with simple but significant things like selling your Hummer, replacing your bulbs with CFCs and maybe even buying some solar panels with the money you made off your H2. The effort can then continue to improve from there in small, inexpensive steps. Unfortunately, our society has much too much invested in purchasing, commerce, ego, and money. It has lost interest in civility, honesty, and respect for their fellow human. If we cannot entrust the future of the entirety of human civilization to the “Individual American”; asking them to make the “right choice”, starting simply by conserving energy, minimizing your carbon footprint, and curbing your wreckless consumerism, then to whom can we turn?
If the “Individual American” can’t be trusted to make the right choice, then we need to initiate a tax, a monetary disadvantage, or a compensatory payment that will counteract the desire and ability to own a Hummer or other similar mechanical behemoth. What can be initiated politically is the formation of a “Luxury Vehicle CO2 Tax”. Basically anyone driving a vehicle that gets less than 25mpg or so and can’t show that that vehicle is legitimately used for their profession (ie. farmers, contractors and the like) need to pay the true costs of their vehicle choices. In order to affect the market, this would have to be on the order of $2000-$5000/year of the life of the vehicle. The money generated can go directly to CO2 offsets for the calculated emissions for the year and the remainder can fund alternative energy products. Everybody wins! Also, our government needs to remember that since it is expected and reasonable to place laws to stop people from hurting other people, it can also place laws to stop corporations from hurting people. We cannot allow auto manufacturers to sue the state for limiting emissions and increasing mileage requirements. These companies cite unfair profit loss and unfair competition from foreign manufacturers (who have been meeting the proposed standards for years!) as a reason to halt government action that is intended to protect the average American. The corporations should not be seen as having the same and sometimes more rights as the American citizen.
Any takers in congress that aren’t in the oil companies or auto manufacturer’s pockets?

Climate Change and Peak Oil

In the United States, we use over 20 million barrels of oil per day, over 7 billion barrels per year, importing more than half of this volume from Africa, the Middle East, Russia, and other oil-producing states.
In purchasing this oil from other parts of the world we put billions of dollars per year into the hands of oil shieks, outdated theocratic rulerships, radical Islamic militants, and even terrorists. The pursuit of this oil has many costs, including the billions of American tax dollars spent on a war that is largely political in order to secure our access to this resource. Already unstable, any breakdown in the current oil economy will lead to skyrocketing fuel prices for Americans. Even the experts within the oil industry predict "peak oil", that is, the highest possible global oil production, to come anywhere within the next 10-50 years. After that point the maximum amount of oil that we can pump out of the ground will decline despite the growing demand for oil for energy, plastics, gasoline, jet fuel, and the many other uses for petroleum. This is a second major reason for a fuel cost spike, that will hit our economy terribly, from which we may not ever recover.
A second major global crisis that is intimately intertwined with energy is climate change. The latest data suggests that the polar ice caps are melting even faster than previously predicted, leading to erratic weather patterns, severe droughts and floods, and rising sea levels. If our current energy consumption continues to grow as predicted, we will have set the stage for severe natural disasters displacing millions of people from their homes, killing an unestimateable number of humans and animal species, costing billions of relief dollars, as well as costing more than 5% per year of global economic growth indefinitely. These two issues go hand in hand – our voracious appetite for energy requires the burning of more and more fossil fuels which in turn leads to more of the CO2 emissions that cause global warming. This is not supposition and is not theory. It is fact. There are many resources to support these estimates and projections from leading politicians, economists, climate experts, geologists, and other experts in their fields.
What this means is that this energy crisis will occur within many of our lifetimes and all of our children's lifetimes. We cannot leave the downfall of our civilization and the scarring of our globe as a legacy to our next generation. Do not take the media’s word, or my word for that matter, research it for yourself so you understand the dire position of our current crises.